The Siren's Wave

Glasgow trio Nalle strike an interesting balance between traditional folk and experimental drone, making thoughtful meditations by using a wide range of instruments (the CD notes list more than 20, including harmonium, singing bowl, water, and birds).

Glasgow trio Nalle strike an interesting balance between traditional folk and experimental drone-- interesting, but not always successful. The group is clearly well-versed in minimalism, and they make thoughtful meditations using a wide range of instruments (the CD notes list more than 20, including harmonium, singing bowl, water, and birds). But their farther-out drones tend to drift into ruts, and their music is more engaging and unpredictable when they mix abstraction with melody.

The best example comes in the middle of The Siren's Wave, during two 10-minute tracks that hit the poles of Nalle's sound. "Voi Ruusuni (O Rose)" is an elongated tone-poem with some hypnotic elements, especially Hanna Tuulikki's Yoko Ono-like wail. But mostly the track wanders with no clear destination, its sonic range narrow and its energy level unchanging. By contrast, "Secret of the Seven Sirens" moves purposefully from idea to idea. The band still rambles loosely, unrestricted by set patterns, but a little structure makes them more focused. It also frees Tuulikki and partners Chris Hladowski and Aby Vulliamy to try sounds that "Voi Ruusuni"'s monolithic drone can't accommodate.

The rest of The Siren's Wave divides along similar lines. The gentle "Alice's Ladder" and the ethereal "Young Light" both entice with small melodies, but the morose "First Eden Sank to Grief" (Nalle aren't exactly comedians) sags into monotony. There are exceptions: the drone of opener "Nothing Gold Can Stay'' mesmerizes due to Tuulikki's responsive voice, which sounds more like a string instrument than human breath. Tuulikki, who wrote most of these songs, smartly makes her singing the album's spine. Evoking Joanna Newsom, Björk, and Finnish avant-folker Lau Nau, she can sometimes get a bit too mannered, but she is admirably unafraid of any vocal sound, as childlike or atonal as it may be.

Even when Nalle meanders, you can hear strands of many influences in their loose concoctions, from La Monte Young to Tower Recordings to White Magic. This bodes well for the group's future-- as they hone in on what parts of their sound work best, the various traditions their music is steeped in should provide the staying power that The Siren's Wave might ultimately lack.